Don't Wish
by SmashQueen
Summary: The problem with wishes is that they never come true for Bowser's family. One-shot. Set in SMRPG.


This was first posted on dA, part of the "A Moment's Notice" collection found there.

I couldn't help it. This popped up all of a sudden with the simple question of "What if one of the Koopalings made a wish around the time of SMRPG?" Well, here's a semi-answer.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any copyrights to _Super Mario_. Mario and all related characters, scenarios, etc. are copyrighted by Nintendo. Square-Enix owns Geno and Mallow. This is just a non-profit piece of fanfiction.

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Bowser grumbled under his breath. He gained a few curious glances but warded them away with an immediate glare. This was not the time to get careless and draw attention. Not that he minded having it, but for the sake of his pride, he had to keep a low profile for the moment. Could Mario be any slower in grabbing that Star thing? He wanted out out of Star Hill as soon as possible, and he couldn't have a better reason to.

It wasn't a wide-spread fact, but anybody who was observant to the sort of luck that King Koopa's family had would know that the higher ups at Star Road and beyond never granted their wishes. When it was them versus Mario, the plumber always came up on top. Even his cowardly brother, the princess, and those irritating Yoshis had more favor with the stars than they did. The Koopas could wish day and night for victory against the Mario Brothers, to keep Princess Peach captive without an interruption for once, or to have at least one plan go right and not be ruined, seized, or used as a springboard for an even bigger plan by another group. Yet none of those desires would ever be granted. No, obviously the higher stars were against them. Bowser himself had even expressively forbade his children on occasion to _not_, under any circumstances, make a wish. It wouldn't come true anyway, so why bother with it when they had brute strength on their side to gain anything they wanted?

Bowser shifted in his spot, moving a foot onto one of those stars with a face on them. He was going to punch something soon if they didn't get out of there. Stealing a glance at his Chain Chomp partner, he flexed his fingers. She could take a bite out of anything that got in their way. That thought usually would have made him smirk, but the quiet mutterings from the star under his weight were distracting him too much.

The fourth Star...Piece - right, Piece - was finally with the rest of the team's collection. The party moved forward and Bowser couldn't help but stiffly let out a breath of air.

"Finally," he growled out. Bringing up the back of the pack, he could just make out the murmurings coming from the ungranted wish.

_'I want King Dad to succeed, just this once.'_

They couldn't get out of there fast enough. Bowser clenched his hands into fists, nearly drawing blood with his lethal claws. He recognized Larry's voice coming from the star. That brat was going to get an earful when he met his father again, that was sure. A Koopa asking for help from the stars above. How disgraceful, not to mention humiliating.

Still, Larry was his son, and the fact that he had reached out to such a normally useless resource when it was a fruitless effort... Bowser's face became a mixture of a snarl and a grin. What was he going to do with that trouble-making kid?

Peering up, Bowser flinched as he caught the eye of the possessed toy. Geno gave a slight nod, one side of his mouth seeming to turn upward in a smirk.

"What? What's with that face?" the king demanded, shaking a fist at the living doll.

"Oh, nothing," Geno replied. "I was just thinking...perhaps some of these wishes won't need to be granted with Star Road's help after all." Peach stopped in her tracks and gasped, holding her hands in front of her mouth. She tentatively brought down her hands and pressed them together.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Geno turned to her, that air of wisdom presenting itself yet again.

"Every day, wishes are being made all over the world," he began, crossing his arms, "However, some of them can be reached by simply working towards a goal."

"Like..." All eyes were suddenly on the little piece of fluff. Mallow shuffled his feet and looked up at Geno. "If I really tried, do you think that...I could maybe...find my mom and dad?" The last words were barely above a whisper, but were still picked up by the star spirit. Geno nodded with a smile,

"It wouldn't hurt to try. They are out there somewhere, waiting for you to come home. Perhaps our search for the Star Pieces will lead you to them." A bit of faith shined in Mallow's eyes and it only increased as he nodded, beaming.

A guttural roar turned all eyes to a glaring Bowser shaking his fists.

"Enough! Don't we have other Star...Pieces to find?" The others bobbed their heads in agreement and general mutterings of the same soon followed. As the Koopa King pushed his way past the others on his way to the star door, he ignored the rolling eyes and shaking heads of his temporary companions.

Mario, Mallow, and Toadstool followed suit, leaving the animated doll to take up the rear. Passing the many scattered, unfulfilled wishing stars, Geno's attention was drawn to one in particular. It was out of the way of where everyone was heading, and it seemed to be from a youngster. It only took three steps to his left and a pause in his steps to understand what hope it held.

_'I want King Dad to come home.'_

Geno sighed, moving back to the group unnoticed. So many lives had been affected because of Smithy's interference. From the defenseless tadpoles to the most powerful of royalty, nobody had been spared. Regardless of Bowser's normal stance against Mario, his greed, and his pride, he was still a father, and he had children who missed him.

Moving forward to quickly close the short gap between him and the rest of the party at the star door, Geno solidified his thoughts. Bowser was a dad to seven children who were currently all alone somewhere in the world. They were family, and as a guardian of Star Road it was his duty to aid in making the wish come true and reunite them. It wasn't a selfish wish these kids were making. No, this time it was different, and that was all the star spirit needed to acknowledge that this was one wish that he could help continue on the path to come true while Star Road was in disrepair. As soon as Bowser had his Keep back, as soon as Smithy was defeated, the Koopa royal family could be together again.

Just one more reason to collect the Star Pieces and return the power of wishing to the world.


End file.
